Pirates legend tips Sundowns to win league title

When Mark Fish sat down with Phakaaathi on the sidelines of the Shield Sbonis’iDiski at the University of Pretoria, he sighed and scratched his head before giving his thoughts about how the 2018/19 season could pan out in terms of silverware.

The Bafana Bafana 1996 Africa Cup of Nations-winning squad member tipped Mamelodi Sundowns to retain their Absa Premiership title, which would be the first time Pitso Mosimane would have done it.

The first trophy of the season will, according to Fish, go to Cape Town City. He tipped SuperSport United to win the Nedbank Cup and hopes his former club Orlando Pirates snatch the Telkom Knockout.

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While he has already marked down Masandawana to win the league, he urges the Buccaneers to put up a stronger fight this season and expects many goals now that they’ve brought in Stephane Adam to mentor the strikers.

“Let’s hope what they’re trying to achieve works for them. Yes, they have signed players and we know they are going to play in Africa. We know Pirates like to compete in Africa – they are not going there just to make up the numbers,” he told Phakaaathi.

“They have gone a couple of seasons without a trophy and I think Pirates fans were patient last season and now it is up to the players to go one step further,” Fish added.

In his heyday, Fish’s primary job was to stop strikers from scoring goals – a job he did with aplomb – but he is now worried about the perennial outcry for goals – or the lack thereof. However, he pats the Sea Robbers on the back for hiring a specialist striking coach.

“It looks like Pirates are doing the right thing by hiring a strikers’ coach and I think that should be done by all the clubs. At the end of the day we can improve the strikers but we can’t teach anyone how to score goals, it is a natural talent.”

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